A comparative study of custody evaluation institution: a ‎scientific and interdisciplinary approach in custody ‎litigation

Custodian law and the judicial proceeding in child custody determination as is practiced today is reformed while public view has changed about childhood and how to treat children. Reforming Civil Law (1169) Act, however, was a new approach to social demands but family law judges have faced challenges because of the best interests concept remains an ambiguous one. Many legal systems designed custody evaluation as an interdisciplinary approach to help family law judges, lawyers and other professionals to settle child custody disputes. Custody evaluation helps parties who are unable to resolve their dispute to reach an agreement about child-related issues. The article first will present a literature review with a critical view to articulate the history and necessity of custody evaluation. The goal of this research is to explain custody evaluation in a comparative study to assess the capacity of Iranian legal system to apply it. The findings show divorcing families with special issues facing such as domestic violence, child abuse need comprehensive evaluation and forensic recommendation.  Instead of the family law judge's emphasis and Iranian law capacity to apply some counseling centers to aid the judicial system in determining child custody dispute, there is still no such centers.